Manchester Evening News

Arena bomb choir set for festival bow

ON MAIN STAGE AT PARKLIFE EVENT

- By DAMON WILKINSON damon.wilkinson@men-news.co.uk @DamonWilki­nson6

IT looks likely to be Parklife’s most poignant and emotional set.

A choir made up of children and parents who were at the Manchester Arena on the night of the bombing are set to perform at next month’s Heaton Park festival.

The 30-strong Manchester Survivors Choir will sing on the main stage on the afternoon of Saturday, June 9.

Sandwiched between R&B MNEK and pop sensation Jessie Ware, they will performing their charity single A City United alongside Manc band Prose.

The two groups also performed the song at the Manchester Together concert in Albert Square on the first anniversar­y of the bomb.

Cath Hill, from Lancaster, who alongside 18-year-old Carys Crow, from Leeds, was the driving force behind the formation of the choir, said: “It’s absolutely bonkers. I can’t believe at 43 years old I’m going to be performing at Parklife.

“Some of the young people in choir had tickets to go and now they’re going to be singing on the main stage. It’s just incredible. star “We’ve built up a great relationsh­ip with Prose. “They really get what we’re trying to do and we’re really looking forward to it.” Cath and Carys formed the choir to help them cope with the trauma of the night. Every fortnight the choir, some of whom were badly injured in the blast which claimed 22 lives, rehearse at Sacred Trinity Church in Salford. Earlier this month Cath, who was at the Ariana Grande gig with her 10-yearold son Jake, told the M.E.N. how the choir had helped her. She said: “Starting up the choir was about me being able to offer some help – it was really important to feel like I was doing something positive. “The singing brings us all together, it gives us an opportunit­y to talk to people who really understand. “It also give us a focus and an escape. “I have never sang before, so it means for the hour that we’re rehearsing, I have to really focus on it and I’m not thinking about anything else.” Parklife takes place on Saturday, June 9, and Sunday, June 10. Headliners include Liam Gallagher, The XX, N.E.R.D and Lorde. Cath Hill

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 ??  ?? The Manchester Survivors Choir
The Manchester Survivors Choir

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